Jeroen Ensink probe: Met criticised by coroner

A CORONER has criticised the Met for its delay in launching an investigation into officers’ prior contact with the killer of top biologist Jeroen Ensink.

The inquest into Dr Ensink’s stabbing outside his Tufnell Park home, due to take place in Nov­ember, has been pushed back to July next year.

This is because Scotland Yard has launched an investigation into its contact with killer Femi Nandap, a student suffering from paranoid schizophrenia, in the months leading up to the stabbing. He had previously been charged with assault of a police officer and knife possession but charges were dropped six days before he killed 41-year-old Dr Ensink.

Seven police officers and a civilian officer have been served with misconduct notices and will not give evidence to the inquest until the probe by the Met’s Directorate of Professional Standards (DPS) concludes.

“The DPS have not covered themselves in glory,” coroner Mary Hassell told a preliminary hearing at St Pancras Coroner’s Court on Friday. She questioned why the Met launched an investigation only this summer, despite Dr Ensink’s widow raising concerns since her husband’s death in 2015.

Guy Ladenburg, barrister for the Met, said: “We recognise the anxiety of the family.”

The dead man’s widow, Nadja Ensink-Teich, is expected to lodge a formal complaint with the Met.